Defendant in Auburn murder wants conviction thrown out

Auburn, NY -- Sammy Swift, found guilty of second-degree murder in the 1994 beating death of Stephen DeLuca Sr. of Auburn, wants his Cayuga County Court conviction tossed, claiming DNA testing shows none of his blood was found at the scene.

The blood evidence, as well as other evidence presented at Swift's 1995 trial, convinced a six-man, six-woman jury that Swift and two accomplices beat and robbed DeLuca, 68, the night of April 30, 1994.

DeLuca's son found his father unconscious on the floor two days later. The older man never regained consciousness and died Oct. 1 at a Syracuse nursing home.

Swift, now 54, was sentenced to 20 years to life for the killing, along with 12½ to 25 years for robbing DeLuca. He is now an inmate at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora.

The two accomplices -- Veronica Barr and Michele Flowers -- ultimately pleaded guilty to robbery and were also sentenced to state prison.

Appearing today in Cayuga County Court, Swift asked Judge Thomas G. Leone to throw out the conviction. The testing shows "clearly that blood is not my blood," Swift said.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Christopher T. Valdina objected to a dismissal, noting that all evidence points to Swift as the killer. That evidence includes testimony from the two accomplices.

"It is our position that (Swift) was the person who committed this brutal crime," Valdina told the judge.